Jalen Holston| jalenh4@vt.

edu
Reflection Project & Report

As I begin brainstorming ideas of what I could completed for my final project in the
ITMA program, I wanted to create an instructional that was personal to me and would
demonstrate everything I learned in the program. It was so many ideas I thought of in my head,
but I could put anything down on paper and doubted myself. I wanted to do something that
would challenge me, but I also didn’t want to do something that was simple and similar to any
other project. I’m a student athlete and wanted to involve my project centered around
something I spend most of my days doing. Football opens up many doors for other
departments like recruiting and that’s when I had the idea of my project. The goal for my
project was to create an educational lesson that would allow high school recruits to gain
information and knowledge on what it is to be a Virginia Tech football player. Through this
lesson, they will have knowledge on the culture of the program and be able to make a good
decision on signing to the school. I decided to do my project on this idea, because
professionally I would love to be working in the recruiting department. The information I
learned could be valuable to my future and career.
I talked to my student athlete advisor about the idea of the project and if it could be an
actual need in the real-world setting. She directed me to the recruiting department and we
discussed ideas for my project. Before, I wanted to learn how to make highlight videos that
centered around Virginia Tech’s season to give recruits a realistic feeling of being a Virginia
Tech Hokie. Zach Lantz, the head photographer in Virginia Tech’s recruiting department advised
me that learning the photoshop and video editing would take more time to complete the
project than I had. He stated that there was enough footage and photos from the department
for me to edit on my own and implement inside what my project could be. I liked the thought of
it and continued to brainstorm how I could get the ideal project I wanted. After getting
feedback from the recruiting department, the video & photo department, and the coaching
staff, I decided it would be better to give an instruction on what it takes to be a Virginia Tech
football player. I chose to make my program a guide for recruits in the process of choosing
Virginia Tech as their school to sign to.
Once I started my project, I realized how difficult it was to create a tutorial for my
proposed idea. In the profession of football, there wasn’t a blueprint I could follow to start
designing my lesson. I was finally able to write my ideas into a list and break down the goal into
different pieces. I wanted to learn how to blend my passion and excitement of football with
what I learned during my time in the ITMA program. I feel like I wanted to show that I finally
mastered using PowerPoint as a deliverable for a multimedia program. I thought twice about it
as I wanted to try making a website. I decided that I would make a multimedia program and
include a website for images and video.
Once my ideas were clear, I created my proposal for my project and began to justify why
it would be useful. I created the specific objectives, noted the materials and methods I would
use, stated my justification, and finally decided how I would evaluate it. Once I turned my
proposal in, it was approved with the feedback to make of some changes to clear what I wanted
to create.
I started my project by shadowing and getting advice from the video and photography
department of Virginia Tech football. Zach Lantz, the main mentor I sought advice from let me
assist in weekly photoshoots that took place. Each week a video reveal had to be create to
show what the Virginia Tech Hokies would wear on gameday. I was able to supervise how the
photoshoots worked, what type of shots they wanted to get, and even some cool things they
did to film video. I was able to assist in editing photos that I would be able to implement in the
program I wanted to show recruits.
I also was able to shadow the recruiting department and learn the techniques, tactics,
communication efforts, and visual designs methods they used to attract recruits through social
media. In recruiting, it’s all about the experience you give the recruit. If they love the school
and feel the love back from the program, then they are more likely to commit to the program.
The big question is always what are the best ways to attract these recruits. The focus when I
shadowed this department was to find ways on how I could implement the things I learned in
ITMA and relate them to recruiting. I didn’t anticipate this, but I learned that just like in
instructional design when you are recruiting you have to do an analysis of your learner/target
audience. You have to know what your learners are seeking to learn to do, what their needs
are, and if you can service those needs.
After designing my instructional content, I created instructional flowcharts and
storyboards that I found very helpful. They allowed me to put the ideas I had in my head on
paper and gave me a realistic view of what I wanted to create. I’ve been using storyboards
through the ITMA program to assist me in creating instruction and it was very helpful. Once I
finished the storyboards, I was able to generate my content. There was a lot of time spent on
revising my program to make sure it aligned with the learning goals and objectives, was
grammatically correct, and functioned well to let learners navigate through it with ease. I’ve
learned that anything you create can be improved upon, so I chose to let people who were
outside of the project review it and be evaluators of it.
From completing this project, I feel like I have learned so much. With the role I was in I
was able to design, develop, create, and evaluate the ideas I thought of in my head. I was able
to make a multimedia program that featured great information, exciting videos, and cool
images that corresponded with the lesson. Reflecting back on how I would do previous
programs, I knew that I had to implement specific assessment questions that would help
learners retain the information presented. The information I gathered for this project came
from trusted professionals who have years of experience in working with college football
programs and the departments within them. Speaking with individuals who all work in different
departments was very beneficial to my project. I was able to take in different perspectives from
professionals and use that information to distinguish what I thought my target audience
needed to see. I also feel that I gained a lot of research experience. ITMA has taught me that in
order to produce great work you have to design a great plan that can cover the ends and outs
of what you’re trying to complete. With that being said, completing this project will push me
further into a bright future in instructional design.
I was able to successfully accomplish all the objectives I set out in my project proposal
and made my deliverables. I learned more about the more about the process of attracting
recruits, what inputs make a program’s culture, and how to create and edit my own images and
video. I can truly say I have learned more than I ever thought and know I will be able to apply
this knowledge in the future when I am in the workplace. I am happy and confident with the
final outcome of my project and will turn it over to the recruiting department to use during
visits.